PLANT PLANET
HOW WORKSHOPS CAN GO GREENER IN 2025
oil chnage
Your lubricant supplier can advise on the best way to install the tanks. Lubricants are filled up in the colour coded tanks as required, and the tanks have sight gauges, taps, or pumps and come labelled with the different product names and their application. Simple, clean and easy to use, these tanks help keep your working space ship-shape and avoid spills from containers. They also help avoid important oil contamination and help the environment by using less packaging. They also provide important health and safety requirements for lubricant storage. Using bulk storage tanks across all the workshops and garages in the UK would save thousands and thousands of plastic and metal containers being sent to landfill and would save on waste collection costs and administration. 5. New technology Use a supplier where greener technologies and processes are at the fore. After all, how lubricants are manufactured is changing – this alone can be one of the most beneficial of savings to a workshop environment due to the reduction of carbon footprint levels. The necessity to improve both the time, cost, and environmental impact of the lubricant manufacturing industry, has driven Witham Group to develop and employ an innovative new process... Blendtek , as the new process is called, removes the need for base oils and product formulae to be heated up for long periods of time using traditional gas energy. Instead, thousands of tonnes of high quality workshop oils using no heat and no agitation can be made using solar panels and a simple 25 amp plug, saving time, energy and drastically reducing the carbon footprint. To evaluate the savings to the environment, Witham have now saved over 33k tonnes of carbon emissions since using the process and heated the equivalent of over 182 homes in the UK for a year. Impressively, their overall gas consumption has been reduced by just over 83% and the technology, the energy saving statistics and the principles of the new ultrasound way of blending is now being shared with the lubricant industry. This exciting breakthrough is all about changing the environmental impact of lubricant manufacturing in the first place. So many other environmental schemes and businesses look to offset their impact by using “carbon dumps or sinks” and investing in other environmental and climate protection projects. We have instead, come up with a way that prevents the creation of high energy use in the first place and are
proud to lead the lubricant industry with this manufacturing innovation. We believe we are the first company in the world to truly blend in a carbon neutral process. We are determined to help other blenders improve their own sustainability profiles and improve the oil industry’s reputation with substantial impact. Green credentials – “The greenest kw of energy is the one you never use” Witham are now the first lubricant blending company in the UK to manufacture its lubricants in a 100% carbon neutral way. The basic principle of ultrasound is to use a high-speed, micro-cinematographic sequence of laser-induced cavitations near to a solid surface. In short using a traditional blending process (similar to Witham’s old plant) using heat to blend and mix generated from gas burners and/or steam from a boiler and standard agitation (paddles) created a carbon footprint of 1962kW per 10,000 litres produced. Using the Blendtek system, with solar panels and the ultrasound technology, Witham manufactures 10,000 litres of high quality workshop lubricating oil using no heat and no agitation, and, more importantly, the company only generates a carbon footprint of 6kW per blend. The company has slashed its gas consumption in the last few years by over 93%. Ultimately, if everyone looked at their business to see how environmental improvements can be easily made within their business, from what they buy and from who, workshops and garages could collectively make a huge success of going green. It’s all about small steps that over time can make a big difference. For those companies looking to improve their sustainability and supply chain choices, Witham believes it leads the way in its innovation and green credentials. Nigel adds, “We could not have been prouder to have been awarded a new Royal Warrant by HM The King recently for the products and services we supply to the Royal Estates. This is particularly important to us as our sustainability and environmental practices are high on the agenda to receive such a prestigious accolade. We couldn’t wish for a better reinforcement of the standards we operate within and look forward to helping more businesses in future”. For more information on how a lubricant partner can help you working with the environment, https://www.withamgroup. co.uk/about-us/working-with-the-environment
APRIL // MaY 2025
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